Soldier

[Hum]

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jesus Jimenez fought two separate battles over the last seven years. He served one year in the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and, while he was stationed overseas, he also fought Miami-Dade County in Florida to keep his home.

Jimenez, 37, did not win the war back home.

In 2011, while training for an upcoming deployment in California, his family home was torn down after county officials rejected a plea to delay demolition over home code violations.

Jimenez?s wife, kids, hearing-impaired brother and mother-in-law were able to get some personal items out before the 1947 house was razed.

?I didn?t think they would go and demolish it,? Jimenez told Fox News Latino from El Paso, Texas where he is currently stationed. ?When the house came down, (the county) didn?t have a court order. It was spur-of-the-moment.?

The Jimenez family?s troubles with Miami-Dade County began in May 2007 when an inspector determined there were code violations in the house. Among the problems with the home that sparked the initial code citation were deteriorating porch beams, a deteriorated roof, a damaged door and an uncovered electrical junction box.

?I took down the list of things to do and asked if I would need permits for anything. (The inspector) said no,? Jimenez told FNL.

The soldier said he was getting ready to do the work, but more citations were issued against the home that made repair work unreasonable ? especially since he was in the middle of preparing for a deployment.

?Everything they asked for was undoable,? Jimenez said. ?It was bringing the house up to modern-day code or it will be demolished.?

Eventually the family hired an engineer to complete the work, but county officials said the problems were so extensive that it would be better to start from scratch.

?The intention was to demolish it anyways,? Jimenez said.

He accused county officials have making it a personal attack rather than being concerned about the actual safety of the house.

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[E Pluribus Unum]

This is an example of what can happen when government gets too big and becomes arbitrary.  Hopefully, people will wake up (unlikely) and restore some accountability and common sense back into government.

[xendrome]

?The intention was to demolish it anyways,? Jimenez said.

[simonlang]

i thought if you serve you get a house/flat anyway?

but if its his house and ground he should be allowed to do and keep or destroy whatever he wants and state and government should keep out of private area. i mean is this usa or sowjet union? :/

[spenser.d]

i thought if you serve you get a house/flat anyway?

but if its his house and ground he should be allowed to do and keep or destroy whatever he wants and state and government should keep out of private area. i mean is this usa or sowjet union? :/

 

There are plenty of good reasons to have and enforce building codes. Not saying this guy didn't get the shaft, but you don't get to do whatever you want for good reason.

[chrisj1968]

There are plenty of good reasons to have and enforce building codes. Not saying this guy didn't get the shaft, but you don't get to do whatever you want for good reason.

well it sounds like this county was hell bent on "getting him" good. read the part where he wrote down the violations only to have a whole new list that mad it impossible to repair. what a mess.

[Art3x]

?The intention was to demolish it anyways,? Jimenez said.

Pretty sure he means the county's intention, not his...

[bonalste]

They should have laid down in front of the bulldozer. Or got the manager of the demolition company to lay down in front of the bulldozer, then gone down the pub. After that, who knows what adventures might come?!

[majortom1981]

Wait he owns 2 other homes and couldn't get the work done in 4 years?

[Pam14160]

Ain't life a "Bitch."  Just because your a service member (solider) it doen't give you any more rights then a private citizen.   The news uses the term soldier to hopefully make it seem more hindous. (sorry if that is misspelled having had two strokes has caused  me memory problem. . . :woot:

[Mr. Gibs]

I thought that a lot of the time, old houses are just grandfathered in with the code violations. It only becomes an issue if he wants to sell / rent out the house.

Otherwise it would ridiculous and people would have to hire an inspector and contractor every year just to keep up with the changes.

Maybe his code violations were too severe and could potentially affect neighboring houses?

[Shiranui]

Sounds like it was handled very badly, but it is probably better to have the house demolished than have it collapse on you one day.

 

"Jesus Jimenez" sounds like a mild expletive.

[Xerino]

Cant fight city hall, he had plenty of warning, and he knew exactly what was going to be done and what needed to be done, he cant say he was surprised... It wouldve happened if he was home or not

[Hum]

Owning 3 houses together ... sounds like Jimenez was a house flipper.

[mudslag]

i thought if you serve you get a house/flat anyway?

 

 

 

Um no you dont just get a free house for serving.